Welcome everyone to a new Season! But before we look forward, I would like to say a huge thank you to Nik Bentley for all his energy and hard work progressing the club over his tenure of Chairman, a very hard act to follow!

In terms of myself, many of you will know me, but for those of you that I have yet to meet, a quick introduction. I joined HHC as one of the founding ladies players many (many) years ago! Since then, HHC and hockey has been a big part of my life, having captained the ladies 1st team over various seasons, and watched my 3 children (both as a parent and in later years as a coach) enjoy some amazing successes. I have also held a number of committee positions over this time, and am fully aware of how lucky I am now to have such a great committee around me for support. I confess, I am a competitive person at heart and therefore keen to support pitch successes across the club, but equally I have valued the friendship and social side of HHC which has kept me here so long. You will hear more soon, but I am pleased to say we will be back to having the bar manned on Saturdays, in a clubhouse that has been fitted with new furniture over the closed season, so please pop in and join us, make friends and be happy. Everyone is welcome.

I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas, so please come introduce yourself to me in the clubhouse, or send me an email at hhcclubchairman@gmail.com

Here’s to a great season!

I hope you are all looking forward to the new season! With some changes coming in over the summer as Nik steps down I am grateful to be taking on the role of vice-chair for this upcoming season.

As I enter my 12th season at HHC I am sure many of you will now recognise me as ’the guy who sorts umpires out’ but believe it or not I do actually play! I started playing hockey when I was 15 and finally found a love for a sport having tried out many others and not feeling much of a passion for it (or I just wasn’t very good…). When I joined the club had 4 Mens teams and 3 Ladies teams which just puts into context how much we have grown.

I have held a number of positions at the club since going with the main one being the Umpire Liaison Officer (who has the duty of making sure we have umpires out for all of our games across the weekend). I am also an active coach for both the Ladies and Youth sections.

My focus for this season will be mainly on the youth side to try and maintain the huge success we have had over the past few seasons. I’m sure I will see many of you in the clubhouse over the coming months but please do let myself or Claire know if you have any questions or ideas!